I surprised myself last night when I picked up my knitting bag and continued working on a jumper. It’s the first time I have done any knitting since I had to give up due to pain in my shoulders. The lifting and twisting made the experience far from relaxing.

Now I have two shiny new shoulders which I look after carefully with stretching and swimming. Yesterday evening I thought “Why not?” Fortunately I had made good notes on the pattern so I could see exactly where I was at.  

The design is single colour with diamonds picked out purl over stocking stitch. It requires complete focus, counting stitches, keeping the tension even, mindful of the changes between knit and purl. I was proud of my two rounds of the eight row pattern. It’s satisfying seeing the work grow. I’ve chosen a bright pink 100% wool. If I’m going to the trouble of creating it, I’ll use good materials.

By the end I was quite tired. It was about an hour of work - I’m not a fast knitter and I couldn’t do anything else besides concentrating on following the pattern. People talk of knitting as a relaxation, and while my body was relaxed, the needles took all my attention.

I enjoyed the simple progress and will probably do another few rows tonight. It’s good for stopping my busy mind fuss about a zillion things.

Do you have other suggestions for calming the mind?

Maybe I’ll finish my jumper this year

Susannah

A Moodscope member